Sunday, December 16, 2007

A Message from Lee Hazen

Lee Hazen is a pioneering musician/engineer who was instrumental in some of the greatest rock 'n roll records to emerge from Florida in the '60s. His work with the Nightcrawlers represents some of the finest garage music ever made, in any state. We play a lot of Lee's recordings on Florida Rocks Again! and he dropped us a line today with the following reminiscence:

JM

Thanks for notifying me of the airdates for your show. Have you considered offering CD's on a subscription basis ? I would love to hear the whole series of shows. It's been a long time since I've been back to Fla - 1992 was my last visit, but I consider my experience in Florida to be the foundation of my careeras a recording engineer which started in l964, the year I recorded The Nightcrawlers for the first time, and The Escorts Combo.

Had it not been for the kindness of Bob Quimby offering me work at The National Songwriter's Guild as a musician, singer and technician, who knows what direction I would have taken. A trip to Nashville with local singer and friend, Ted Merthe, made up my mind that I wanted to be an engineer and I started working towards my goal of working in Nashville.

A year at Criteria in 1965 and another year at KING in 1966 gave me a"track record" which got the attention of Glenn Snoddy in Nashville who had just build a new studio in East Nashville - Woodland Sound Studios. I often wonder how things might have turned out had I not been offered that job in Nashville. I think one thing still would have happened - I would have pursued my other goal of owning my own recording studio - in Florida.

Well, I reached that goal in l976 with the opening of "Studio by the Pond" here at my home by Old Hickory Lake near Hendersonville, TN. The studio and I are both retired but continue to exist (and I continue to drink beer). My two best friends returned to Ormond Beach in the mid 90's and continue to live and work in the area - Mike Stone and Jack (Stack A Track) Grochmal. Mike has the 24 channel MCI console from the Starday King Studio in Nashville,and Jack has a formidable amount of recording gear in his private studio at his home in Ormond by the Sea. Both of them are talented sound mixers and have been very much involved in music production over the years. Another person who was responsible for Bob Quimby hearing my recordings and offering me that first job is Betty Jayne (Stickles) Shawd. BJ sang on demos at the Guild for several years.

After I moved to Nashville, I helped her get to know some of the Background Singers and their groups. I think she would still be here singing on sessions had her mother not persuaded her to return to Daytona Beach. That's a real shame. Her husband, Larry Shawd, is a talented sound mixer and drummer. She operated her own Demo studio for a long time. Daytona has always been a great source of great musicians and performers.

I think that "The Martinique" night club should be treasured as the greatest showplace of talent in the area. It also happens to be the most exciting room that I've ever recorded in - including every recording studio I've ever worked in. I would LOVE to own that building and open a studio/live performance venue in it.

I have been trying to contact Lee for over a year. Last I heard, ever since his stroke he's been in a medical facility in Nashville. Everyone I knew who knew him has either moved away, or are on the road. The few that have responded have not gone to see him, don't know where he is, or his current status. None of his Florida friends one answer my emails. We were very close friends, buddies. But I got buried in developing a legal career and hadn't heard anything from him for several months. Then someone told me he had a very bad stroke and was left profoundly disabled in his speech. I heard his house sold back in January. Kyle would probably know, but I don't know if he's still in this region. I would like to have an update and go see him. If anyone finds out where he is, please advise. My YouTube Channel has my contact info. It is: RawTruthMedia, orGerry Phillips(minister/songwriter)

Lee is living in Bordeaux Long Term Care. His condition is about the same as when he had his stroke several years ago. The phone there is: 615-862-7000. Address os 1414 County Hospital Rd., Nashville, Tn., just off Briley Parkway on East side of town.

Lee is living in Bordeaux Long Term Care. His condition is about the same as when he had his stroke several years ago. The phone there is: 615-862-7000. Address os 1414 County Hospital Rd., Nashville, Tn., just off Briley Parkway on East side of town.

I just found this site and would like to let you all know that Lee is about the same. He hasn't been out of bed for several years now and communication is very difficult. He answers yes/no questions and trys to get his point out but is largely unsuccessful. I go to visit him every six weeks to 2 months. Visits are difficult but he knows me when I go in and usually we can have a few laughs. He really enjoys hearing from his friends but I am unsure whether he can read or not. Sometimes it appears he is reading but I read anything that I find there that he has received and he enjoys that. I will be going back to see him on Dec 20th. If you have anything you would like for me to read to him please send me and e-mail and I will read it to him while I'm there. He especially likes reminiscent stories from the glory days. He really lights up when I have something to read about the good old days. I am Mike Junkin and live in Alamo, TN. My e-mail is: mikejunkin@charter.net. If you have any questions I will do my best to answer them or get someone else to answer. The greatest Christmas present Lee could get is to hear from his friends. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to y'all. Mike Junkin 248 S.Cavalier Drive Alamo, TN 38001 Cell 731-663-8059